MotoGP: Phillip Island’s Perfect Storm

ByAmy Dargan

amylouisedargan MotoGP's official roving reporter since the beginning of the 2015 season. Previously it was three years getting muddy covering MXGP but this season she'll be filling BikeSocial readers in on the story lines in between the racing lines after each MotoGP.

And the jury rests its case…MotoGP is raising the bar grand prix after grand prix on what constitutes a good race. We don’t get ‘one-off wonders’ in 2017, MotoGP just keeps on giving- well the riders do at least. To be fair you didn’t even need to be a MotoGP fan to appreciate the perfect storm that erupted on Phillip Island- and to everyone’s surprise without a wet tyre in sight.

As a neutral who was dying to see a final race separated by single digits, Duacti’s Andrea Dovizisoso’s disappointing day was a bit of a bummer, meaning that Honda’s Marc Marquez now has one more finger on the championship trophy.

However, post-race Sunday there was no time for dwelling on the matter because the race really was that good. The best of the season, probably. The TV set that’s used for the broadcaster’s top three interviews and the top independent rider (which was claimed by Johann Zarco on Sunday) was especially lively. It was a buzz with the guys eyeing up each other’s leathers to see who had more of whose rubber on whom, and their faces were lit up not only with the podium glow but with the feisty eight rider frenzy they had come out on top of.

What we loved about the Phillip Island clash in no particular order;

There were so many passes, most gave up counting.

From what I heard (first hand at least), nobody complained that there were more than a few nudges than we would normally count in a MotoGP race.

Andrea Iannone and Suzuki were back in the mix for a second race in a row, one wet, one dry now. I’ve missed him mixing things up at the front this year and that race proved what value he adds when he is there. Fortunately for both him, the seagulls and his helmet designers, there were no close encounters with the birds this time.

Jack Miller. Three weeks after surgery on a fractured tibia, the local boy led the Australian Grand Prix and held it out there well to boot.

Johann Zarco continuing to live MotoGP rookie life in the ‘No Sh*ts Given lane’. He also secured himself the official MotoGP Rookie Of The Year Award by claiming 4th spot in the race to the line with the two Factory Yamahas of Rossi and Vinales, missing out on 2nd place by just 0.043s. I think most would agree that from an entertainment perspective he deserves that title alone.

If you set you’re alarm to get up and watch the race with us live, then you were rewarded handsomely with a race that there wasn’t enough time to blink in, let alone doze back off to sleep. If you’ve yet to see it, you might need a pen and paper handy to keep up.

With a couple of days to recharge and regroup before the final stop of MotoGP’s big three (this one much needed after annoyingly getting stuck in Tokyo’s Narita airport for two days between Motegi and Phillip Island), the realisation that we’re approaching the penultimate round is starting to settle, just 50-points left on the board to settle this sensational season…and the young Spaniard has a healthy 33-point lead.

Amy is one of MotoGP’s official roving reporters hunting down the riders, their managers, crew chiefs and paddock personalities at every Grand Prix. This season she'll be filling BikeSocial readers in on the story lines in between the racing lines.

Amy is all about two wheels coming from three years covering the MXGP championship before embarking on her third season in MotoGP, she'll also be the pit lane reporter at selected Speedway Grand Prix this year.